(Eagle News)–The country’s employment rate rose to 96.4 percent in November 2023, Philippine Statistics Authority data showed.
According to the PSA, this translates to 49.64 million employed Filipinos, higher than the 47.80 million employed–or a 95.8 percent employment rate—posted the month before.
The country’s November 2023 unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, meanwhile, translates to 1.83 million, down from the 2.09 million unemployed people reported the month before.
According to PSA data, the underemployment rate in November 2023 was the same as the underemployment rate reported the month before, at 11.7 percent.
The PSA said this is equivalent to 5.79 million who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work out of the 49.64 employed individuals.
By broad industry group, the PSA said the services sector continued to dominate the labor market in November 2023 in terms of number of employed persons, with its 59.5 percent share of the 49.64 million employed persons.
The agriculture and industry sectors, meanwhile, accounted for 24.6 percent and 15.9 percent of the total employed persons, respectively.
The top five sub-sectors that posted annual increases in the number of employed persons in November 2023 were the following:
a. Agriculture and forestry (1.24 million);
b. Construction (453000);
c. Transportation and storage (308 000);
d. Fishing and aquaculture (305000); and
e. Administrative and support service activities (189000).
The following five sub-sectors, meanwhile, posted the highest annual decreases in the number of employed persons:
a. Manufacturing (-1.39 million);
b. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
(-396000);
c. Public administration and defense; compulsory social security
(-184000);
d. Information and communication (-165000); and
e. Real estate activities (-145000);
According to the PSA, wage and salary workers continued to account for the largest share of employed persons, at 61.5 percent of the total employed persons in November 2023.
This was followed by self-employed persons without any paid employee at 28.6 percent and unpaid family workers at 8.0 percent.
Employers with their own family-operated farm or business posted the lowest share of 1.9 percent.
The labor force participation rate was at 65.9 percent in November 2023, higher than the reported LFPR in October 2023 at 63.9 percent.